RESTATING YOUR ART WORK

So I have now completed an oil painting course to paint like the old masters...if it is at all possible! The course was focusing in particular on Rembrandt with the Apelles palette. I found it very interesting and challenging. So I also busy now with a classical portrait drawing course.
Restating your ART WORK means to me to seriously reconsider what you are doing and what else you would like to do - not out of compulsion or what the market likes or what people tell you. It is really what you want to do - almost in a very selfish manner.
Do that.
But at the same time as doing that do not neglect training and studying or even giving classes. I am also giving classes to some art students and develop a course myself. Because by doing that you also hone your own skills and develop more. Almost incidental without noticing it. Stay busy.
Restating in the final end means to commit to a body of work and to WORK at you art. WORK!

REPAINTING OR REDOING YOUR OLD PAINTINGS

I have a lot of old oil paintings that I have not sold. It accumulates every year and after a while it is paintings everywhere. What must I do? My first action was if I cannot sell it destroy it? Or give it away. Have a sale! I gave some paintings away fro free to my friends and I always give paintings as presents to others.
But even so many paintings remain for a very long time with me. Obviously some paintings I can hang in my own dwelling but there are still left over.
So here is what you can do:
1. Seriously look at the painting – is it worthy art?
2. Conjure up in you mind criticism of people in the past and add some of your own.
3. Rethink the idea, story, composition, colours etc. of the painting.
With this in mind you have to decide :
1. Keep it as it is – it could be a present for somebody or hang on your own wall (if you have the luxury of your own gallery...the ideal!)
2. Destroy it – it is not worth it!
3. Correct it based on the three questions above.
Obviously now the question is how do I redo the painting or enhance and change it?
THE FIRST STEP – Sand down the area where you think the composition is wrong – the structural correction of the painting.
THE SECOND STEP – Repaint that area – give attention to first apply some linseed oil and turps to the area before painting. Try and paint it with the same palette as in the past.
THE THIRD STEP – Re-evaluate the painting again. Now the composition is corrected and the flow of your eye over the painting is adjusted. Correct this until the eye is happy!
THE FOURTH STEP – Criticism in the past with regards to colour...Should you enhance the colour to a brighter expression or a more classical expression or just stay within a certain range f colours (monochrome painting). Brighter colours normally influence people easily but the art is also seldom art that lasts because too bright is just not real unless the reality of what you painted is in fact very bright. These choices are your own to make.
THE FIFTH STEP – For me is now to at first leave the painting for a while, but put it in such a place that you can see it daily. Study it and make some small recommendations to yourself. Once you are finished studying it, make the recommended changes. You can go through this fifth stage a couple of times until you are happy.

IN ITSELF THIS PROCESS IS VERY REWARDING AND YOU LEARN SO MUCH! Especially in the area of how you look at a painting. Art must have this ingredient - you must enjoy or have some definite emotional or spiritual connection with it.

Now your final artwork should be more “worthy” in your eyes. Can you now sell it or give it away or hang it on your own space! Something that you really like is more likely to find a person that also likes it!
So final question to you is how many paintings do you have that you think should be renewed like this?
Just maybe one thing that you take home as well – always take note of criticism...It is your school – make sure you learn from it, but in the end it is up to you to say this is the final product. You are the artist!

ON DRAWING AND DRAWING CHALLENGE

I have been drawing for the past 40 to 50 days and trying to keep it up with at least a drawing a day...A book that inspired much in this context is the book of the Americam painter William Morris. Here is my review of his book: On Painting and Drawing by William Morris Hunt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great read for an artist - little comments made by one of his students over a period of time. Great tips on drawing and painting in oils.

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Soon to come posts of drawings and comments on mistakes and good practice...

PAINTING JERUSALEM

Jerusalem - the Old City painted from an old map, then I I superimposed an aerial view upon it and now it is just a representation and not a factually correct painting. I enjoyed painting it, but I struggled to get the right frame until I decided that a black surrounding would do it justice since it is now a aerial representation in the night. The Mosque is obviously totally out of scale...

What do you say about it?

I WAS THINKING OF 2019 AND REAFFIRMED MY ART GOALS

When you climb the steps of a ladder (called rungs), you go higher than you were before. Now I was thinking how can I climb the steps and how much of it have I already climbed this year 2019? In art specifically? And here is my thoughts: A. Generally to improve my technical skills in art i.e. use of art materials, methods of painting and drawing, composition- just generally to have an attitude of improvement. B. Obviously to improve means one have to study again and/or experiment and this I am constantly busy with; and especially here the old masters techniques and methods and colors etc. One can learn from those who went before you... C. To develop that something extra / more or narrative something special about my art. This probably is the most difficult. D. To look and experiment with Tempera, Iconography, Oil paining master's methods and techniques as well as alternative Framing methods. E. How to make art to give me a reasonable income. Selling art via galleries, private and the web...it remains challenging. A gallery art representation? Quality sells... Yes you've got it - I am on my way in this!!!

THE CRAFTSMAN'S HANDBOOK by Cennino Cennini

The Craftsman's Handbook by Cennino Cennini
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great book of the Italian art craftsman - methods and colour pigments, prints etc. a technical book. It was written in the day or era of studying art with a master artist in an atelier. Advice for example given under "Fundamental provisions for anyone who enters this profession" is and I quote again "....begin by decking yourselves with this attire: Enthusiasm, Obedience, and Constancy. And begin to submit yourself to the direction of a master for instruction as early as you can; and do not leave the master until you have to." The book is very technical and some sections only to read as required (i.e. when you do that for example printing) and then under the pigments section - some pigments are not used or available or obsolete. So read and get what you can. There are very advice in this book and a lot of technical material. A rare art book.

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ART QUOTES THAT MOTIVATES ME

Yes it is true - all artists need motivation! The best place to find motivation is looking at what other artists did or wrote. I particularly find them motivating - here is a list of some of them:

1. Work on it until it cannot get any better.
2. Get good enough at anything and somebody will pay you to do it.
3. Your art goes as deep as your love goes.
4. Art is made to disturb. Science reassures. There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain.
5. It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing.
6. There are two sorts of beauty; one is the result of instinct, the other of study. A combination of the two, with the resulting modifications, brings with it a very complicated richness, which the art critic ought to try to discover.
7. Art arises when the secret vision of the artist and the manifestation of nature agree to find new shapes.
8. I enjoy the creative process of moving from chaos to order but at the same time to have beauty and mystery in mind: that something special in art.
9. It is never about the image, but the story and feeling behind the painting.
10. Most men's brains lie fallow for the greater part of their lives.
11. I am under the direction of messengers from heaven.
12. Art is perseverance - you never arrive. Your destination is the journey so do not quit.
Yes and you are right, I will add to these quotes from time to time. If you find this motivational (and tough!) and want to comment or add a quote - just leave a comment to the blog.

THE YEAR 2016 AND 2017

I found these two years very, very difficult for my art environment - maybe I must explain. I am committed to 7 areas namely Art, Karate, Writing/Books/Reading(this is all one area), Websites, Acquiring Languages, Spirituality and Music. This forms the total of my 7 areas for life. Now they are a bit much but I DO try. So in these two years some things developed - I opened up a Karate Club, I painted a lot and I also acquired a skill namely that of Book restoration and Book Binding. As of this date I have fixed 60 books! I have obtained all the skills. I must say something about this - it is a bit of an artwork too and it is very relaxing. Ok so this is something new and good...and I hope to soon make my own Drawing Journals once off books! In 2018 more Blogposts on the year that was and the year to come...Excited about all that is happening now.

INTERESTING COMMENT ON FIGURE DRAWING BY DA VINCI

Interesting that Da Vinci should mention that it is better to do figure drawing in groups rather than all by yourself. I find his method of argument very ambitious and at times uncomfortable but nevertheless it needs to stand by itself so that you can evaluate for yourself.
Say there are ten people wanting to do figure drawing. Obviously financially it is better if they can all put together some money and pay for a good model and arrange for a time and place. Ok here is maybe the greatest benefit because if you do it all by yourself it is more costly. This however is not where I am uncomfortable.
The second argument goes something like this - you can learn from others while drawing and comparing yourself constantly with others as they draw. Here already I am starting to feel uneasy because comparing like that will have the affect that all the drawings of all those artists that draw together will slowly over time get closer and closer to one another. That is obviously if that little club continues.
The third argument that Da Vinci himself proposes is if you happen to be the best draughtsman or artist among all those present, you have something to maintain; that being remaining the best artist. That will be your challenge. I feel very uncomfortable with this view because it makes it competitive and almost showmanship like and that defeats the purpose that I just want to learn to draw better or develop a certain style of drawing.
Ok so I take it that in his time there were no photographers and maybe the competition between artists were very real since the patrons of the arts were few and commissions were in order of the day.
So what can I learn from it as an application for my day?
1. Certainly draw with others if you cannot afford your own models.
2. Certainly learn from other artists but choose then those who really regard as being different and more advanced in their art as yourself. However strife deliberately not to copy but to develop your own individualistic style. If you should copy then do it only as an exercise but my personal opinion is avoid it as the plague.
3. Don't think ever that your art is better than all those around you. It may just be that others don't think so and that you might be outdated in style and trend of trend of the time. It is better that you rather challenge yourself in the process of on-going improvement and in refining and developing your style further.
I say that it is better to challenge yourself with regards to the size of the drawing, the mediums used, your own traditional approach in drawing and seeking to be fresh and innovative. Be true to yourself and try to stay within your own recognizable work so that your whole portfolio is like continuous story.
Maybe Da Vinci was a great artist and I do admire his work; I mean we are very insignificant in criticizing his work; but to me some of his art notes (please note art notes) makes one wonder...just my personal opinion. I wrote this so that you can have your own opinion of drawing together in clubs etc. etc. and whatever you take or reject from the great master Da Vinci.

NEVER LET THINGS BE SEEN HALF-FINISHED

I read a great maxim in a book that also applies very much to the artist and his work:-
"NEVER LET THINGS BE SEEN HALF-FINISHED
They can only be enjoyed when complete. All beginnings are misshapen, and this deformity sticks in the imagination. The recollection of having seen a thing imperfect disturbs our enjoyment of it when completed. To swallow something great at one gulp may disturb the judgement of the separate parts, but satisfies the taste. Till a thing is everything, it is nothing, and while it is in process of being it is still nothing. To see the tastiest dishes prepared arouses rather disgust than appetite. Let each great master take care not to let his work be seen in its embryonic stages: they might take this lesson from Dame Nature, who never brings the child to the light till it is fit to be seen." - Balthasar Gracian

REDON by Michael Gibson

Redon by Michael Gibson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author captured the development of Redon as a person as well as his art. In this series I enjoyed this book more than the others. Redon as a person I think apart from his dreamlike paintings i.e. the grandfather of surrealism, I think was very calculated in what he did. Some comments in the book are fascinating - "The merest sketch or scribble...in my portfolio took on a new sense. And that was the true date of my determination". I think he is one of the artists who started out dark (his black era) and moved towards the light and colours - exactly the same happened in his life and he ended not in poverty and as a well-known artist. This is material for a longer more exhaustive biography. This was a good read.

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GET INSPIRATION!

It is never a good reason to take a break from your art. It is also never good if you just work at your art but it is easy because you just follow a process without any inspiration. That is just not good! I think it is better to think of some projects when it is like that...An artist once said "It is not just inspiration but perspiration!" But honestly - what do we need to do when there is no inspiration? I will share with you what I do.
1. Variety the spice of life. It is never good to work in only one art medium! Take on another medium and it will give you some real art exploration and many challenges. My favourite art mediums are pencil drawing, painting in oils and prints(lino and woodcuts). But most of the time if I do not work in oils I draw. And that is good because it keep the creative juices pumping!
2. Study! Study your art - show yourself approved. Mastery only comes if others call you a master. A Master must "know" everything about his particular art. For me there are a view places or sources of study:-
2.1 Books about artists - I love to read biographies and auto biographies about artists.
2.2 Books about Art Techniques in your particular medium - maybe, just maybe there is something that you can learn from one of these books.
2.3 YouTube and the Internet - Ah here is a visual or a good read with photos etc. - I regularly watch some technique or website about an artist. Maybe in my mind I think it is not that good but then somewhere the person has some technique or does something where I learn something new.
2.4 Obviously - yes! There are official courses and studies if you have the stomach for it - certainly that will challenge you greatly!
3. Balance between chaos and order – A good thing to do is to bring order to your creative environment - clean the brushes, sharpen the pencils - file the drawings. Put things in order that needs to be in order. For me I thrive on chaos but sometimes I just have to bring order and change everything in order to progress further. This is a great exercise and it gives you a moment to reflect on some drawings which can be developed into paintings etc. Do not be afraid to throw away some stuff - destroy it! On the pc also create order make folders and keep stuff so that you can find it again. Search in the process for inspiration. From perspiration to inspiration! Order also implies organization. Sometimes I make a list and then look at what I haven't done and what really need my attention. Prioritize, organize and get on with it!
4.Time! Some things cannot be altered - you know it is all wrong when you look at the drawing or painting but your mind does not give you the answers or changes. You have to wait and study your own work - put it aside but still in view; as you see it regularly, it will come to you exactly what is wrong and exactly what you must do to rectify it. Then you are ready to change it.
5. Work!There is no excuse for good solid work. Just get busy. Work - it waits for no man. A good idea is to prepare a new board or canvass, finish off some work that you know what to do, sign off some work. Some things just need to get done! Do it!

Yes art is a very difficult work! Don't be fooled because if you do not find it difficult anymore please do us all a favour and get off the bus or else read through this article again and get inspired!

THE DRAWING EXPERIENCE

So I bought another drawing book with the aim of drawing more often during weekdays - at least one proper drawing per day… The process neatly defined to me from all the sources possible:-

• From real life – live drawing
• From photos
• From memory
• Mind drawings – that is pure abstracts
• Converting any of the above or previous drawings – I call it an abstraction!

One can easily do series or drive a concept or topic to the limits! My suggestion? Draw it firstly on a separate paper, maybe even more than once playing with the drawing types as well as the concepts of composition and tonal value and how to express the tonal value with shades and fading or crosshatching etc. UNTIL you have something! Play...
Something can then be transferred to my drawing book- I do it again but now carefully working it up or carelessly working it up to get the effect that I was getting on the final drawing - or an improvement on it. Obviously even now small calculated changes are incorporated but the overall drawing stays more or less the same.
This process can easily be extrapolated into a drawing tour where anything from two to five drawings per day can be done BUT NOW everything is done in a drawing book with full notes to myself or whoever - explain what I am doing adding extra notes on whichever number of the same drawing the first last or everyone – these notes freely added to express my mood, the mood or temperature of the drawing, the time of day and very important in at least one of the drawings the actual colours and maybe make notes to the colours that you would like to do and the reasons why you would choose these colours for the possible painting that could follow . Maybe a good idea is also to write freely where the place is where the drawing was done? Yes you can add a very simple watercolour sketch to it if you want to.
AND YES of course you are right! Take a photo or two but don’t neglect the drawing – it is better not to take the photo that not to draw – get that! Get that! Because you can always replace the photo with a simple watercolour done in speed, yes, in speed because now this is not the final product because at home in the studio you would like to complete the final product – the painting! Or play again with the drawing types stated above and do a final great and bigger drawing.
Ah do those drawings! Just draw! Draw…

PARTICIPATE IN GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Do you want to know the secret? The real secret on participating in group exhibitions is to carefully select the work that you think will most likely fit into the exhibition and also have a great opportunity to sell. Obviously with group exhibitions there will always be a panel that will evaluate your work and select some work. So number 1 enter more work than what is needed knowing full well that some of it will be rejected - so enter some things that will be rejected and also enter some things that you know they will most likely then accept as your better work...Give them the time to also reject some of your work!!!! Now with the pricing of those works - once you have established you price deliberately add a percentage - I add that the commission that the gallery will earn. But I must state in all integrity the artwork that will be accepted is actually worth that price anyway or even more!!!! Now I enter. I have successfully sold at group exhibitions and believe me this is a good strategy....

PRINTS – LINO AND WOODCUTS

Since I bought a print bench for etching, lino and woodcuts, I have experimented quite a lot with it. This is some of the initial observations on a possible process:-
1. Do a full scale drawing and the drawing must work. (I must say at this stage I am in such a hurry that I have to go back and do proper drawings – again and again!
2. From this drawings do some kind of design – simplify and try and “design” the drawing – alter it into simplified forms that will be easy to engrave and cut out or chisel out.
3. Get the mirror image of this design and transfer that on your medium – (wood/lino/copper plate/ etc.)
4. Do the engraving or carving or etch work.
5. Make test prints on scrap paper.
6. Make corrections based on the prints – don’t overwork – go slow at this stage.
7. Make prints.
Basically three quality areas-
1. The drawing or design work
2. The engraving/carving or etch work
3. The print work
If anyone of the three above fails, the finished product fails. I have without extensive studying made this observation from experience and would like to record it from the outset.
Obviously all the other detailed stuff that other people rave about is also true – the quality of the paper, the ink, the adjustments on the etch press and lots of other details in the carving process or etch process but these three listed are control points. All three are equally important – if you fail one, it fails; and only when all three are good work, the end result is good!

ON PAINTING STYLE AND INFLUENCES

While going to exhibition after exhibition I hear some people comment on my painting style – this is what I search for and in my opinion is that the following helps you to define it:-
1. Firstly it is qualified by how you draw – if it is in great detail and precise then your paintings could be very photogenic or with elaborate detail; if your drawing not in great detail, then your painting would also not be in great detail. If it is just clean lines then your painting will also reflect clean lines and spaces. The uniqueness of your painting could be found in the different way in which you draw.
2. The amount of colors that you use and how you use them – do you use dirty/broken colors by mixing or do you like to use “clean” paint, impasto, etc. This has a direct bearing on the brightness, contrasts, etc. etc. of your painting. Do you use it thick, thin or layers and how do you apply it with oft or bristle brushes or palette knife or other instruments?
3. I believe many will disagree with me that the subject matter that you like to paint influences your style and especially in how you interpret it or what other message you have in your subject matter, how simple or naïve or even complex it might be.
4. The fourth influence on your style of painting is your schooling or “masters” that you respect. One can clearly see some resemblances creeping in over time or there is just something that reminds you of another artist or great master.
5. A last influence is the emotional intelligence of the artist. It is very easy to “read” the personality of the artist or his emotional condition by observing his paintings. Is the artist very happy by nature or is the artist depressed, is he outgoing, does he communicate and have easy exchange with other people? One artist for example very seldom show any human beings in his paintings….Another just paint people – many people together engrossed in some activity or portraits. The emotional intelligence can also then be gleaned from observing the something more and something else in the painting.

The important factor though is to qualify your art style and to grow in it. I think a certain deliberate effort to enforce your own unique style must be made – deliberate effort and to evaluate it: put some works or photos of it next to one another and compare it.
I don’t think you have to adapt in any way if you follow the process of developing and maintaining and growing your own unique style.

In conclusion it is needed for one to from time to time experiment and play and add “new” techniques and influences to your style. Never undermine or compromise creativity and a certain artistic freedom that goes with it even if it does not look like some of your other work. Let it influence you. There are people who would copy a certain artists in subject matter and in process and only later to come back and to do their own work again; but now “influenced” and changed by that exercise. The same could be said for working with another artist or additional training etc. All these can be influences on creativity and your style.

COLOR BALANCE

A very easy process:
1. Take a photo of your work, download it unto your pc, view it on a viewer(Microsoft Office Picture Manager) "zoomed out" . This way the photo is much smaller and the colors closer to one another and you see an error so much easier.
2. Now correct that error on your painting.
3. Take a photo again and go through the same process again. Repeat the process until you are happy with the color balance.

MARKETING YOUR ART - KEEP ON KNOCKING

I have been thinking about this topic since that is quite a difficult subject for artists and many of us are not top sales or marketing people. The following conclusions :-
1. Study marketing by yourself. Get marketing books and do your own research. Maybe you get a new idea or concept.
2. Keep on knocking on the doors of the commercial galleries. Just go there once in a while and show your work. The day comes that there is an open door.
3. Explore auction houses especially those that auction artworks.
4. Try contemporary galleries for limited time exhibitions either by yourself or with a group.
5. Update your website and all related links.
6. Keep selling your art at your house.
7. Put a price on your artwork - do not let it go cheap. Get the mental picture of a good price fixed in your mind. Identify with it fully. Price some of your work at home accordingly.
8. Be open to ideas from other artists and the related industry.
9. Exhibit regularly with all galleries open to you - be there!
10. Improve your artwork! There is a market for good art. But in improving it be real - do your own work, original and honest art because in the end that will work!

AUTOGRAPHING OR SIGNING YOUR OIL PAINTINGS AND DATING IT.

Two issues are significant here. The one is how you sign your artwork and the other is if you should date it or not.
Autographing or signing – should you sign it very “professionally” or artistically or hide it? That it blends into your color range? Many questions, but the one you should answer is what are other artists, which are painting similar works as yours, what are they doing? Do you find reason in it?
I think the best option is to blend your artistic signature and date that the worked was completed into the artwork in such a manner that:-
1.It does not draw attention to itself.
2.It does not compete with the focus point or main area of interest of your painting.
3.It still contributes somewhat to the balance of the painting or at least does not skew the balance.
4.But it must still be clearly seen on inspection.
If you should do it differently like contrasting color or bright or very noticeable style etc. however, that is your prerogative.
Some artists only put their initials while others put the whole name and surname and even some only the name. If the style is very significant and can easily be distinguished then that could be done. Some artists also sign their work or index their work at the back of the painting as well as dating it.
As to dating your artwork – the older you are, the more important dating becomes. The problem is that you cannot go back to some work that now hangs in a gallery or in another country or in some unknown house or study. By dating it retrospective exhibition could be managed a little easier at a later age. The verdict? I think it is good to date your work.
Final thought and this is just an artist’s opinion – do you want to leave a legacy of artwork? Properly sign it somewhere and date it – alternatively if you only just want to make a sale then do whatever your artistic mind can come up with. Just be consistent or strive more or less to come to some place of doing it with some reason.Or make some artistic statement!

PRICING YOUR ARTWORK

The pricing of your works are really up to you. That’s the fact – you choose your price!
But you must remember that a good marketing person can sell your work for much higher amounts. However for you to be a serious artist and to avoid later problems with resale values or with "investors" and galleries, it is better that you determine your price. Whatever somebody else then sell it for has nothing to do with you. If works are overpriced and sold by a good salesperson and later are sold again and the price are significantly less, you as an artist get a bad reputation and it will influence your sales.
So how do you price your artwork?
The starting point is twice what it would have cost you to frame it. As your art style and quality of your work increase and you begin to sell more then increase it to two and a half or three times the framing price and later on raise it again. You will get a feel for your price! Beware though of cheap thin plastic frames - rather frame it properly! If a work does not need a frame but can hang as a board or canvass just like that ask yourself what it would have cost you to frame it and start with that.
If one work is of a much greater artistic value than some of your other work because it is just a better work, ask your price and motivate it that way! You are the artist - you ask your price! Sometimes the price can simply be doubled and your sales can increase if you have started with less rather than more!
It is always better to see your art being sold again by the original buyer for higher prices than lower. This way you get a good reputation and your work could enter certain markets as investment art! That is the ideal! This is why you must determine it carefully if you are a serious artist! You don't want to upset old customers and collectors!
Price your work carefully and be consistent and treat your customer with integrity!